Crimson & Emerald & Rose

Crimson is the classic deep rose — the deep vivid crimson of the most classically celebrated deep-crimson garden rose varieties, particularly the Hybrid Perpetual class (a class of garden roses developed in the early to mid-19th century — approximately 1838-1880 — that combined the large, repeat-blooming characteristics of Chinese roses with the cold-hardiness and deep color of European roses, producing the most vigorous and most voluminously petalled roses of the 19th century). Key deep-crimson Hybrid Perpetuals: 'Souvenir du Docteur Jamain' (1865, introduced by François Lacharme, Lyon — characterized by very dark, deep velvety crimson-to-maroon flowers with a rich fragrance — considered the darkest Hybrid Perpetual rose cultivar and one of the most admired of all antique rose cultivars for its extraordinary depth of crimson coloration); 'Baron Girod de l'Ain' (1897 — a deep crimson Hybrid Perpetual with distinctive white-edged petals — one of the most unusual and most immediately identifiable of all antique roses); and 'Charles Darwin' (David Austin — 2003 — a deeply cupped, rich deep yellow-to-amber English Rose, demonstrating that the 'deep rose' category extends beyond pure crimson). Emerald is the rose foliage — the vivid jewel-green of the healthy foliage of the most disease-resistant rose varieties and the precisely maintained rose garden turf. Rose foliage color: Hybrid Tea roses typically have glossy, medium-to-dark green foliage (the gloss is produced by a waxy cuticle that reflects light and resists water, fungal spores, and insect damage); English Roses (David Austin) are bred for improved disease resistance and have typically medium-green, slightly matte foliage; old garden roses (Gallicas, Damasks, Albas) have lighter, more greyish-green or matte foliage. The most disease-resistant modern roses (English Roses with 'Aushard' and similar breeding codes) have specifically deep, glossy, very dark emerald-green foliage that creates the most dramatic color contrast with their flowers and the most immediately high-quality appearance. Rose is the climbing rose — the vivid electric rose-pink of the climbing and rambling rose varieties that have been central to formal European rose garden design since the late 19th century. Key vivid-rose-pink climbing roses: 'American Pillar' (Van Fleet — 1908 — a Rambler with clusters of vivid rose-pink single flowers with white eye and golden stamens, one of the most widely planted pergola and arch roses in European formal rose gardens); 'Zéphirine Drouhin' (1868 — a thornless climbing Bourbon Rose with vivid cerise-pink flowers and a strong fragrance — one of the most celebrated climbing roses for pillars, pergolas, and arches in English and French formal gardens); and 'New Dawn' (Somerset Rose Nursery — 1930 — a vigorous climbing rose with large, very pale blush-to-rose-pink flowers, extremely disease-resistant, and widely planted on pergolas and trellises in formal rose garden settings — one of the first rose cultivars to receive a plant patent in the United States). The La Roseraie du Val-de-Marne: founded in 1899 by Jules Gravereaux (a Bon Marché department store executive who retired to create the most comprehensive rose garden in the world), the La Roseraie de l'Hay-les-Roses contains approximately 16,000 roses of approximately 3,200 varieties — including the most comprehensive collection of antique and historical rose varieties in the world (many preserved specifically here because they are no longer cultivated anywhere else). The garden is particularly celebrated for its pergola and arch displays — featuring climbing rose varieties in vivid rose-pink to deep crimson, creating tunnels of flower from June through July.